State Duma Deputy Calls to Keep ‘Saakashvili-like Individuals’ Away from the Nagorno-Karabakh Issue

Elena Panina, a member of the Russian State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs, stated that Mikheil Saakashvili has no right to take a mediating position following the actions in South Ossetia in 2008. According to RIA Novosti, she commented on Saakashvili’s recent statements regarding the Artsakh issue.

Panina emphasized that in 2008, “Saakashvili had already incited a bloody conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia, during which he ordered the killing of peaceful citizens in Tskhinvali.”

“Now he is again trying to incite one people against another, provoking the parties to the conflict,” said the deputy, adding that for the resolution of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, both sides of the conflict must “listen to the voice of reason and keep individuals like Saakashvili as far away from the topic as possible.”